By Lenette Evans

Here in Benton Harbor, Michigan, the "Forgotten Men Outreach Mission" is owned by Robert and Sherron Wilder. It is open to homeless veterans as a 24-hour, 7-day a week transitional living quarters where men can stay up to five years.

The Lord gave Robert Wilder a vision of helping forgotten men in the community because he himself was once a forgotten man. Sherron Wilder is the administrator. Her  Pastor Nathaniel Wells, once said to her "Your work never begins in ministry until you come outside of the walls of the churches".

The Mission gets men off the streets so they have a place to stay, a hot meal, and they go to Church and Bible study. People in the  community have given beds and mattresses that the men sleep on in their own rooms. Most of them are without income, having lost their Social Security or SSI because they had no physical mailing address.

The Mission works with the men to help them restore their income. People on the streets sometimes talk bad about the shelter because of their rules and regulations, but Sherron Wilder, is a godly Christian woman who is strong in her faith. She always lets the men know, "They are free to come, and they are free to go".

The Wilders have a deep love and compassion for the men who become part of their family. Sherron just wants to give them a safe place to stay, good meals, and structure by grounding them in the word of God. They are not paid staff, they are volunteers doing the will of God.

Since the men cannot go to local job training, they have created jobs for some of them at the thrift store inside the Mission building itself. The items are donated and the store workers make 50% of daily sales while the other 50% goes towards the upkeep of the building. The men themselves each receive a free three-month supply of clothes.

When men are able to leave the shelter and move into their own apartment the Mission gives each of them furniture and shows them how to maintain the apartment. They monitor them for a year and allow them to go back to the Mission if necessary.

They have Bible study at 5 p.m. daily, and every Sunday Sherron Wilder has a live Broadcast from WVBH FM with some of the men from the Mission. Recently her house manager Robert G was on the live broadcast, went to church on Easter, gave his life to Jesus Christ, and then tragically passed away a few days later. Sherron says, "The most important thing at the Mission is introducing the men to the Lord."

Sherron says one day Jesus is going to ask us all, "When I was hungry did you feed me? When I had no clothes did you clothe me? When I was thirsty did you give me a drink of water?" Those that are ambassadors for Jesus Christ need to wake up, rise up, stand up, get out of the pew, and serve Jesus, loving our neighbors as we love ourselves and helping the poor and homeless, because one day we are ALL going to be accountable for what we did for the Lord.

Robert and Sherron Wilder love these men and truly look out for them and their well-being. The Wilders give them positive hope and change lives in the men in the community for a future with the Lord!

Lenette Evans
PHOTO /SANDY REED